I'm interested in how you handle fresh water. Most of us have large fresh water tanks and that water is used for showers, washing, flushing, etc. I use one of those whole house water filters between my fresh water tank and my faucets, but it only "filters" the water, it doesn't kill bad bacteria.

What about drinking water? What about water for your coffee pot? Currently, we buy lots of bottled water for drinking, and we also have almost a dozen gallon size water bottles that we use for coffee or washing fruits and vegetables. We fill the gallon jugs wherever we feel comfortable with the water supply. But these are very inconvenient and take up valuable storage space.

I've seen some reverse osmosis systems that do a great job of purifying water, so much so that it doesn't even taste like water, all the good stuff is gone with the bad. However you could almost pump water from a lake or river and drink it after using the reverse osmosis. The down side is that these systems are VERY expensive.

A Brita type water filter is nice, but can it be trusted to clean the bacteria from my fresh water tank? My wife is very picky about water taste, so it's become a subject of concern for me. I want a good, fresh, pure water supply that also tastes good. In addition, I'm one of those people that think the day will come that water could become a very expensive resource. I would like to maintain easy access to good water.

Ideas?

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1989 MCI-102 A3DD 6V92 Turbo, AlisonTons of stuff to learn!Started in Cheboygan, Michigan (near the Mackinaw Bridge). Now home is anywhere we parkhttp://dave-amy.com/

The frenchy-bus came with 2 separate systems - 100 gallons of fresh water and a completely separate 20 gallon drinking water tank that is also pressurized but only available on a separate tap at the kitchen sink. I thought it was a silly system when we bought the bus but I have come around to thinking it is a really good idea. 20 gallons used exclusively for drinking means we can go a long time between refills. That allows us to pick and choose what we put in that tank which means we never have to worry about the quality of our drinking water. When we travelled in Mexico we simply bought 5 gallon bottles of purified water and put them into the drinking tank. Anywhere else in North America we test the water on the house system and never put anything in the drinking tank that we are the least bit concerned about.

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R.J.(Bob) EvansUsed to be 1981 Prevost 8-92, 10 spdCurrently busless (and not looking)My websiteOur weblogSimply growing older is not the same as living.

A Brita type water filter is nice, but can it be trusted to clean the bacteria from my fresh water tank? My wife is very picky about water taste, so it's become a subject of concern for me. I want a good, fresh, pure water supply that also tastes good. In addition, I'm one of those people that think the day will come that water could become a very expensive resource. I would like to maintain easy access to good water.

Ideas?

Brita-type filters use activated carbon to remove bad tastes, but they won't remove bacteria to make your water safer. Katadyn uses micro-porous ceramic filters that will remove almost all nasties from water - I've used their Pocket Filter for many years when traveling in far-flung places where potable water is rare, and I've never yet come down with dysentery (or worse) from drinking local water that I've filtered with it. Katadyn also makes a non-portable unit that could be used in a home or bus. There are other companies making similar filters, including one that even removes viruses. UV sterilization is another option.

I'm thinking about using several 2-1/2 gallon jugs of drinking water under the sink, with a simple Rocket-type hand pump to dispense it. If drinking water isn't available I'll then filter my own from my two on-board tanks.

I do what "lost again" said. I added a single fixture 12V pump that I picked up at NAPA. I mounted it under the sink next to a 5 Gal. "sparklettes" bottle. That in conjunction with a high rise faucet on the counter, I enjoy good water, with a known source for drinking etc.

Only fill the tank with chlorinated city water-never raw well water. My tank is 20 years old and don't have any growth inside. If I did have to use well water, I'd use some bleach in it. I also have a drinking water faucet with filter. Good Luck, TomC

We recently installed a pump (made by flo-jet if I remember correctly) under the sink and it has a dispenser on the sink that uses a five gallon plastic jug. We keep a crate with four one gallons in the bay for back up and just refill the bottle as necessary.

It is a 110 electric pump so it runs off the same circuit as the refrigerator. You can get the five gallon jugs filled for about a buck or so a lots of gas stations or convenience stores.

We went to this system because we ended up with some "funky" water that we drained and replaced and then added bleach to be sure it was going to clean the system up. So as previously mentioned by others we have separate drinking and washing water. Hard to tell what you are getting when you fill and if you let it stay and it is bad the bad seems to grow.

HTH

Melbo

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If it won't go FORCE it ---- if it breaks it needed to be replaced anywayAlbuquerque, NM MC8 L10 Cummins ZF

I installed a reverse osmosis system and it has been a royal “PITA”. It uses entirely too much water from the tank. I was going to install a line back to the tank to recover the wasted water. I have had to rebuild the valve system trying to cut this water usage issue and now plan to put a pump and five gallon jug under the sink as suggested here. Thank You for the simple solution LOLJohn

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If It Can't Be Grown Then It Has To Be MinedJohn RiddleWells NV1984 MC9

I use city water mostly, but have put in well water. If you are generally using chlorinated city water, you won't have problems as long as you keep your tanks in the dark.I use a 5 micron sediment filter on the shore line input that gets the big stuff before it get to my tanks. I use a 1 micron (can't find the .5 micron) charcoal filter on my distribution side. We use the tank water for everything, including drinking right out of the tap. I've never added bleach or any other thing to my fresh water tank,and have no intentions of doing so. No issues in 10 years, and don't expect to have any in the next 10 or more.Bottled water is one of the biggest scams ever wrought on mankind. Generally, all it is is tap water, and often not even very good tap water!

For drinking water Watts sells a pitcher through Amazon with Halo Pure cartridges. These kill over 99% of bacteria. I worked for Halosource Inc. that developed the Halo Pure technology. Google Halosource. I keep a couple of those pitchers full all the time.

Hi All, when cleaning/ purifying with bleach or the other version of bleach, most people just fill and drain at the same spot, if you drive a bit and run your faucets you have a better chance of sloshing away the same stuff that has grown up the interior walls of your tanks, lvmci...

Bottled water is one of the biggest scams ever wrought on mankind. Generally, all it is is tap water, and often not even very good tap water!

CraigI agree with you on scam on bottled water for the US. Here in the Dominican however the use of bottled water is pretty much mandatory. I'm planning five gallon jug of water of my choice under the sink and I won’t be as picky of the water in the big tank. I like you drink now out of the big tank but would feel better with smaller source of drinking water.

John

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If It Can't Be Grown Then It Has To Be MinedJohn RiddleWells NV1984 MC9

We never buy bottled water north of the Rio Grande but I'd be pretty shy about drinking tap water south of the Rio Grande. The big advantage of having two tanks in the US and Canada is that we can pick and choose which water we put where. While I agree that bottled water is a huge scam, it is also true that some municipal water is crap. I grew up in Regina in the days when you got out of the shower feeling dirtier than when you went in. Some places have really good water - that's what we put in the drinking tank. Its just nice to have the choice.

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R.J.(Bob) EvansUsed to be 1981 Prevost 8-92, 10 spdCurrently busless (and not looking)My websiteOur weblogSimply growing older is not the same as living.

Dave - we are using 2 house canisters for filtering all the water that comes into our bus. All the tank water gets filtered twice (its how I set it up) In addition we have a dual filter system specifically for drinking water with its own tap right at the sink. I plan on putting a ceramic filter there at some point. We are 8 months in now and we are doing pretty good on water. We usually taste/smell the water at the campground before putting any in the tanks. We have never had any bad tasting water while in the bus. Its usually tastes pretty good.

We never drink water out of our holding tank, even though we add bleach about every third tank fill. We winter in the desert and the water is usually really bad (by our NW standards). Plus I don't trust RV park water. Instead I installed a Flo-Jet bottled water dispensing system utilizing 5 gallon Primo brand (others available also) purified water bottles. We carry two 5's so we never run out. The Primo brand is picked up at all Lowes stores and some Walmarts, which you can usually get a bus into pretty easy. Drop an empty one and pick up a full one for 6.99 equals piece of mind. 3 gallon bottles also available. On the Eagle the pump puts it right to the fridge; on the Silverside I have a dispensing fixture next to the galley fawcet.